PANNA (WISDOM)

How does wisdom arise in the meditator? As we said before, one type of wisdom comes from study, from reading, going to school, listening to others, etc. Another comes from reflection, from building upon what we have learned. The third kind of wisdom comes from the process of purifying the mind.

A. RIGHT THOUGHT

After the meditator understands how to practice from the instructions of the teacher, this would be the first kind of wisdom (ie, listening to others).

After the five hindrances calm down (the hindrances of desire, hatred, laziness, restlessness, and doubt), the meditator can see for himself the teachings of the Buddha. He will know without conditioning and without prejudice, because the wisdom can arise directly, without the defilements to cloud the mind. This would represent the second kind of wisdom, reflection, self-explanation. This is also Right Thought, or the second aspect of the noble eightfold path.

B. RIGHT VIEW, RIGHT UNDERSTANDING.

After the meditator stays with nama (mind) and rupa (body), for the time that the mindfulness is with the mind and the body, the defilements cannot get in. Thus, the meditator actually up-roots those defilements. This is the third kind of wisdom. By learning to stay in the present moment, he then moves into the first aspect of the eightfold path, Right Understanding. Wisdom is already there. But in order to see it and experience it, we must remove the hindrances. Once we have freed ourselves from them, we will see things as they really are; we will have experienced Right Understanding for ourselves.

It is on this path that we can live our lives happily. At the same time, we uproot old defilements, and prevent the arising of new ones, simply by keeping our focus on nama and rupa. The more we look with right understanding, the easier it will be to keep the five or eight precepts, or to retain concentration.

Someone who purifies his mind and uproots some of the defilements is called a first stream-enterer. He eliminates four desire minds (which would lead to the breaking of the precepts), and one ignorance mind (which doubts the teaching). He then fulfills the precepts by first becoming a stream-enterer, not the other way around. The cause must come before the effect. The unwholesome mind must be overcome before one can realize and practice pure precepts.

We cannot remember our previous lives. However, the Buddha taught that we have lived many lives, and that our tears from all our sadnesses and joys would fill the oceans of the earth; all our bones put together would make more mountains than have ever been climbed. We have been human and non-humnan; we have done countless good deeds and bad deeds. He taught that our lives will work out according to the kamma we have accumulated from those past actions. That kamma cannot be changed by anyone- even the Buddha cannot change anyone’s kamma. For this reason, we should beware of the unwholesome mind, because it will bring about unfavorable consequences later one, and perhaps lead to a woeful rebirth. Only mindfulness will prevent the arising of unwholesomeness that leads to bad kamma, and the falling away from the four foundations.

When we look unfavorably upon others or concern ourselves with their motives, or if we gossip about them, we can be sure that we have lost mindfulness. When we do this, we simply create unwholesomeness (cause) and this will produce brand new bad kamma, and we will automatically have to experience the result of that cause.

Sila, Samadhi, and Panna – these are the attainments of the person who purifies the mind. The person who has attained the perfect sila, is the first stream-enterer (Sotapanna). The one who has attained the perfect Samadhi is the non-returner (Anagami). The person who has attained perfect panna is the Arahant.

When we are mindful, Sila, Samadhi, and Panna (morality, concentration, and wisdom) will work together to achieve the Dhamma. The Buddha said that mindfulness is like the elephant’s footprint – it can contain the footprint of any other animal in the forest. If we cultivate minfulness, we will be safe. As when we raise an infant properly, so that he will first be a good boy, and later, a good man, who will eventually be able to take care of us, so, too, we train the mind, so that the mind itself will be able to take care of us.

Only mindfulness can show us when we have fallen into unwholesome states of mind – anger, hatred, judgment of others, delusion, etc. When we are not mindful of the four foundations, there is no possibility of uprooting the defilements of hatred, greed, and delusion. Then, we cannot possibly free ourselves from our own self-made slavery to these defilements.

A meditator does not have to memorize much. It is the practice itself which uproots the defilements. The meditator does not need to think constantly about precepts, as if they could purify the mind. He does not concentrate too hard. He practices mindfulness. By practicing mindfulness, he practies dhamma, and he who practices dhamma will be protected by the dhamma

An outstanding aspect of the Buddha's Teaching is the adoption of the Eightfold Path is the Middle Path. The Buddha advised His followers to follow this Path so as to avoid the extremes of sensual pleasures and self-mortification. The Middle Path is a righteous way of life which does not advocate the acceptance of decrees given by someone outside oneself. A person practises the Middle Path, the guide for moral conduct, not out of fear of any supernatural agency, but out of the intrinsic value in following such an action. He chooses this self-imposed discipline for a definite end in view: self-purification.

The Middle Path is a planned course of inward culture and progress. A person can make real progress in righteousness and insight by following this Path, and not by engaging in external worship and prayers. According to the Buddha, anyone who lives in accordance with the Dhamma will be guided and protected by that very Law. When a person lives according to Dhamma, he will also be living in harmony with the universal law.

Every Buddhist is encouraged to mould his life according to the Noble Eightfold Path as taught by the Buddha. He who adjusts his life according to this noble way of living will be free from miseries and calamities both in this life-time and hereafter. He will also be able to develop his mind by restraining from evil and observing morality.

The Eightfold Path can be compared to a road map. Just as a traveler will need a map to lead him to his destination, we all need the Eightfold Path which shows us how to attain Nibbana, the final goal of human life. To attain the final goal, there are three aspects of the Eightfold path to be developed by the devotee. He has to develop Sila (Morality), Samadhi (Mental Culture) and Panna (Wisdom). While the three must be developed simultaneously, the intensity with which any one area is to be practised varies according to a person's own spiritual development. A devotee must first develop his morality, that is, his actions should bring good to other living beings. He does this by faithfully adhering to the precepts of abstaining from killing, slandering, stealing, becoming intoxicated or being lustful. As he develops his morality, his mind will become more easily controlled, enabling him to develop his powers of concentration. Finally, with the development of concentration, wisdom will arise.

With His infinite wisdom, the Buddha knew that not all humans have the same ability to reach spiritual maturity at once. So He expounded the Noble Eightfold Path for the gradual development of the spiritual way of life in a practical way. He knew that not all people can become perfect in one lifetime. He said that Sila, Samadhi, and Panna, must and can be developed over many lifetimes with diligent effort. This path finally leads to the attainment of ultimate peace where there is no more unsatisfactoriness.

What is Right Understanding? It is explained as having the knowledge of the Four Noble Truths. In other words, it is the understanding of things as they really are. Right Understanding also means that one understands the nature of what are wholesome kamma (merits) and unwholesome kamma (demerits), and how they may be performed with the body, speech and mind. By understanding kamma, a person will learn to avoid evil and do good, thereby creating favorable outcomes in his life. When a person has Right Understanding, he also understands the Three Characteristics of Life (that all compounded things are transient, subject to suffering, and without a Self) and understands the Law of Dependent Origination. A person with complete Right Understanding is one who is free from ignorance, and by the nature of that enlightenment removes the roots of evil from his mind and becomes liberated. A lofty aim of a practising Buddhist is to cultivate Wisdom and gain Right Understanding about himself, life and all phenomena.

When a person has Right Understanding, he or she develops Right Thought as well. This factor is sometimes known as 'Right Resolution', 'Right Aspirations" and 'Right Ideas'. It refers to the mental state which eliminates wrong ideas or notions and promotes the other moral factors to be directed to Nibbana. This factor serves a double purpose of eliminating evil thoughts and developing pure thoughts. Right Thought is important because it is one's thoughts which either purify or defile a person.

There are three aspects to Right Thought. First, a person should maintaining an attitude of detachment from worldly pleasures rather than being selfishly attached to them. He should be selfless in his thoughts and think of the welfare of others. Second, he should maintain loving-kindness, goodwill and benevolence in his mind, which is opposed to hatred, ill-will or aversion. Third, he should act with thoughts of harmlessness or compassion to all beings, which is opposed to cruelty and lack of consideration for others. As a person progresses along the spiritual path, his thoughts will become increasingly benevolent, harmless, selfless, and filled with love and compassion.

Right Understanding and Right Thought, which are Wisdom factors, will lead to good, moral conduct. There are three factors under moral conduct: Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. Right Speech involves respect for truth and respect for the welfare for others. It means to avoid lying, to avoid backbiting or slander, to avoid harsh speech, and to avoid idle talk. We have often underestimated the power of speech and tend to use little control over our speech faculty. But we have all been hurt by someone's words at some time of our life, and similarly we have been encouraged by the words of another. It is said that a harsh word can wound more deeply than weapons, where as a gentle word can change the heart and mind of the most hardened criminal. So to develop a harmonious society, we should cultivate and use our speech positively. We speak words which are truthful, bring harmony, kind and meaningful. The Buddha once said 'pleasant speech is sweet as honey, truthful speech is beautiful like a flower, and wrong speech is unwholesome like filth'.

Spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each day remembering we all want the same things (to be happy and be loved) and we are all connected to one another. 2. Spend 5 minutes -- breathing in - cherishing yourself; and, breathing out - cherishing others. If you think about people you have difficulty cherishing, extend your cherishing to them anyway.
3. During the day extend that attitude to everyone you meet. Practice cherishing the simplest person (clerks, attendants, etc., as well as the "important" people in your life; cherish the people you love and the people you dislike). 4. Continue this practice no matter what happens or what anyone does to you.

These thoughts are very simple, inspiring and helpful. The practice of cherishing can be taken very deep if done wordlessly; allowing yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.

"One technique for developing altruism is called equalising and switching self and other. Here, one should investigate which side is important, oneself or others. Choose. There is no other choice - only these two. Who is more important, you or others? Others are greater in number than you, who is just one; others are infinite. It is clear that neither wants suffering and both want happiness, and that both have every right to achieve happiness and to overcome suffering because both are sentient beings.

Let me describe how this is practised in meditation. This is my own practice, and I frequently speak about it to others. Imagine that in front of you on one side is your old, selfish I and that on the other side is a group of poor, needy people. And you yourself are in the middle as a neutral person, a third party. Then, judge which is more important - whether you should join this one selfish, self-centred, stupid person or these poor, needy, helpless people. If you have a human heart, naturally you will be drawn to the side of the needy beings.

This type of reflective contemplation will help in developing an altruistic attitude; you gradually will realise how bad selfish behaviour is. You yourself, up to now, have been behaving this way, but now you realise how bad you were. Nobody wants to be a bad person; if someone says, "You are a bad person," we feel very angry. Why? The main reason is simply that we do not want to be bad. If we really do not want to be a bad person, then the means to avoid it is in our own hands. If we train in the behaviour of a good person, we will become good. Nobody else has the right to put a person in the categories of good or bad; no one has that kind of power."

Ideally, we serve others with pure heart, not expecting gratitude, payment or recognition. We accept complaints with equanimity and patiently continue, knowing that people don't always see the purpose of what we're doing. Though our actions may seem insignificant or unproductive, if our motivation is pure and we dedicate the merit expansively, we generate great virtue. Though we may not accomplish what we set out to do, auspicious conditions and our ability to benefit others in the future will only increase. No effort is wasted; when someone witnesses our loving kindness, he sees a new way of responding to anger or aggression. This becomes a reference point in his mind that, like a seed, will eventually flower when conditions ripen. Then when we dedicate the virtue, our loving kindness will extend to all beings. We mustn't become discouraged if someone we are trying to help continues to experience the results of her negative karma and, in the process, creates the causes of future suffering. Instead, because she doesn't have enough merit for her suffering to end, we must redouble our efforts to accumulate merit and dedicate it to her and others. We're not out to accomplish selfish aims. We are trying to establish the causes of lasting happiness for all beings. By purifying our self-interest and mental poisons, we develop a heroic mind. The process of going beyond suffering and helping others do the same is the way of the Bodhisattva.

Question (Alexandra): I hate to harp on this, but how do we ensure our own benefit while we're helping others?

Answer: If we do whatever we can to reach out, help, and serve others, our own merit will naturally increase and infalliably produce benefit for ourselves as well - infalliably.""

Before starting a meditation practice, it is very advisable to have visited a group or center where meditation instructions are given, and follow some guided meditations. In this way, it is easy to discover the basics of the actual practice. The various traditions teach slightly different methods, usually related to the emphasis of their main practices. It is strongly advised to start any meditation session with setting one's motivation and concluding by dedicating the positive energy, for this, verses as given in the page Prayers before and after Meditation can be a good guideline.

The Basis: Watching the Breath Relaxation: Butter on the Head / Relaxing by Stressing
Slowing Down the Mind: Eliminating Past and Future Mindfulness: Watching the Senses / Watching Emotions Purification: Smoke Out, Light In / Body of Light
The Nature of Mind: What is It? / Continuity of Mind / Space Between Thoughts
Pre-Tantric Purification: Nine-Round Breathing

This meditation exercise has been applied for more than a thousand years in countries with a Buddhist tradition. In Vietnam, it is used at the beginning of ceremonies before people bow deeply to the Buddha. The traditional wording is: Since the nature of the one who bows and the one who is bowed to is empty, the communication between us is perfect. This meditation is rooted in the teachings of interbeing, emptiness and nonduality. According to the teachings of interdependent arising, both the Buddha and the person who bows before the Buddha are manifested by cause and condition and cannot exist in separation from the rest of all that is. This is what is meant when we say both are empty. In this context, emptiness means the lack of an autonomous arising, independent entity. In myself are many elements that are not myself, and one of those elements is the Buddha. In the Buddha are many elements that are not the Buddha, and one of those elements is me. It is this insight that enables me to realize the deep contact between myself and the Buddha, and it is this insight that gives the ceremony of paying homage to the Buddha its deepest meaning. It is rare in religious traditions to find this equality between the one who pays homage and the one who is paid homage stated in such an uncompromising way. When we pay homage like this, we do not feel weak or needy. Instead, we are filled with confidence in our capacity to be awakened in the way that the Buddha was."

Buddhahood. Paticavimiati 170, however, is different. In Conze's translation (used by Lethcoe) it reads (1979: 124): 'Through this skill in means will I, for the sake of all beings, experience that pain of the hells .. until these beings have won Nirvana.... Afterwards I will, for the sake of my own self, know full enlightenment. ...' Clearly, the key word here is 'afterwards'. The Sanskrit and Tibetan, however, do not necessarily carry the temporal sense of the English 'afterwards'. They can mean 'thereupon', 'because of that', or 'thereby', all of which convey a very different meaning. I do not want to emphasize the linguistic point, however. My purpose is simply to suggest sensitivity to the initial incoherence and textual uncertainty concerning the Bodhisattva's claimed postponement of nirvana, an assertion which appears to have become part of the lore of textbooks on Buddhism. In fact (pace Lethcoe), the Paticavimlati also says that the Bodhisattva vows that 'after we have known full enlightenment we should lead all beings to Nirvana' (quoted above, p. 50). One should note, however, that the Parleavimiati's 'irreversible' Bodhisattvas seem to be able to do all the things a Buddha can. It is possible that at these rarefied levels, in the eyes of non­systematic piety, advanced Bodhisattvas and Buddhas have simply been conflated.